Watanabe delays return to ‘King and I’ due to cancer

Following an announcement that Ken Watanabe (who originated the role of the King in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of “The King and I” last spring) would come back to the show for a short run beginning March 1, his return has been postponed to March 17 so that he can undergo treatment for stomach cancer, as reported by BroadwayWorld.com. The role of the King is currently being played by Hoon Lee.

‘Cats’ being readied for big screen

Hard to believe, but a film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s feline revue “Cats” is in the works and Tom Hooper (“Les Miz”) may direct it, as per the London newspaper The Sun. The idea of making “Cats” into a movie was parodied in John Guare’s acclaimed dark comedy “Six Degrees of Separation.” A revival of the musical is already set to hit Broadway this summer.

‘Motown’ will kick out ‘Disaster!’

“Motown the Musical,” a celebration of the Motown hits of record producer Berry Gordy, will return to Broadway in July for an 18-week run. Since it will play the Nederlander Theatre, the producers of the new musical comedy “Disaster!” (which just began previews at the same theater) have confirmed that their show will only have a limited run through July 3.

Clark, O’Hara and Morrison will relight the ‘Piazza’

Victoria Clark, Kelli O’Hara and Matthew Morrison, who all rose to prominence a decade ago in Adam Guettel’s musical romance “The Light in the Piazza,” will reunite on April 4 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre for a one-night performance of the musical to benefit Lincoln Center Theater. The concert also serves as a reminder that Guettel has unfortunately not premiered a new score since then.

‘Fiddler’ thinking of Flint

This month, the producers of “Fiddler on the Roof” are donating two dollars from every full-priced ticket to a fund supporting the residents of Flint, Michigan in light of their water contamination crisis. In other “Fiddler” news, it has been confirmed that a cast album of the revival will be released next month.

‘Quartet’ goes from musical to TV

Remember the 2010 Broadway musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” which depicted the historic recording session of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins? CMT will produce a television miniseries based on the musical, as reported by Deadline.com.

‘Wicked’ to enter top 10 longest running Broadway shows

“Wicked,” which keeps earning big bucks and attracting big crowds to the Gershwin Theatre, is set to enter the top 10 longest-running shows in Broadway history on Sunday, as reported by Playbill.com. “Wicked” will seize the slot currently occupied by “Rent” at 5,123 performances.

Williamstown announces its summer season

The prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in the Berkshires unveiled its upcoming summer season this week, which will include Marisa Tomei in Tennessee Williams’ Italian romance “The Rose Tattoo,” Wendy Wasserstein’s political play “An American Daughter” and Alfred Molina and Jane Kaczmarek in the American premiere of the new marital drama “And No More We Shall Part.”